THE long-awaited second phase of the Gukurahundi community outreach hearings are expected to start next week after its initial engagement expired in December last year.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa officially launched the Gukurahundi community hearings in July 2024 in Bulawayo, with the public outreach and testimony-gathering phase beginning on June 26 last year.
The ongoing initiative is aimed at addressing the dark legacy of the 1980s disturbances in Matabeleland and the Midlands.
In an interview with Southern Eye yesterday, Chief Mtshane Khumalo said the government agreed to extend the hearings’ term following a request from traditional leaders.
“The hearings were given a term of six months from June to December.
“After the term expired, we told the government that we had not finished the programme and requested an extension,” he said.
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“The government agreed to the extension and promised to look for resources until the end of this month.
“We are waiting to hear from the government this week and we are expecting the hearings to start next week.”
Chief Khumalo revealed that the first phase was promising with many victims coming out to testify.
The process, which is being spearheaded by chiefs, suffered delays due to resource constraints and logistical clashes.
However, while some initial interviews have since been recorded in the two Matabeleland regions, the rollout remains heavily contested.
The initiative continues to draw intense analysis for several key reasons that include lack of trust and transparency, human rights groups and civil society organisations have criticised the government-initiated hearings arguing that the proceedings should be victim centred not the other way round.
However, legal challenges attempting to halt the hearings have been unsuccessful.
For instance, an urgent application at the Bulawayo High Court made by opposition party Zapu to stop the rollout was thrown out following a ruling that the matter lacked urgency.
The Gukurahundi victims and activists are demanding a more transparent, perpetrator-led accountability process and official acknowledgement of the massacres, rather than relying solely on traditional leaders.